The Colorado Avalanche earned a point in an overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on Monday night, moving one point closer to eliminating the Minnesota Wild from playoff contention.
Entering play Tuesday, Colorado controls the second wild-cart spot with 86 points, five up on the Wild who also trail ninth-place Arizona (84 points).
All three teams are in action Tuesday night.
- Wild vs. Jets – 7 p.m.
- Avalanche vs. Oilers – 8 p.m.
- Coyotes vs. Kings – 9 p.m.
The Wild will be eliminated from playoff contention with a regulation loss or a Colorado win. If the Wild earns a point with an overtime loss, they can stay alive so long as Colorado loses in regulation.
Best-case scenario is that the Wild wins and Colorado and Arizona both lose in regulation. If that happens, the wild-card standings would look like this:
- Colorado – 86 points
- Arizona – 84 points
- Minnesota – 83 points
That would set the stage for another night of drama on Thursday when all three teams are again in action:
- Wild vs. Bruins – 7 p.m.
- Avalanche vs. Jets – 8 p.m.
- Coyotes at Golden Knights – 9 p.m.
Bottom line: the Wild pretty much need to win out and hope Colorado and Arizona each lose out.
According to playoff probabilities from Hockey Reference, the Wild has a microscopic 0.6% chance to win the last wild-card spot.
Anything is possible, but there’s a strong chance Minnesota’s playoff hopes are dashed in the next couple of trips around the clock.
